Sony Xperia Z5 users are unable to access the Google Play Store after updating their handsets to Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Sony has offered a fix to counter the problem.
( Kārlis Dambrāns | Flickr )

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Sony Xperia Z5 users' excitement over receiving the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update seems to have been short-lived as users of the handsets are now complaining of issues after updating the device to the latest OS.

Users of the smartphone have taken to the Japanese company's online support page to vent their ire and complain that access to the Google Play Store had halted after updating to Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

Several Xperia Z5 users complained that their smartphones "broke" after installing the new OS. They were also greeted by a pop-up sign that says their "Google Play Store has stopped." The users were also unable to open the Play Store app.

"As soon as I updated to Marshmallow, I keep getting the "Unfortunately Google Play Store has stopped..." and the message keeps coming up every 5 seconds. I tried clearing the cache, deleting data, uninstalling, disabling the app, force closing, signing out of google and back on. Does not work. I keep getting the pop up non-stop and it happened as SOON as it updated to Marshmallow," noted a user on the support forum.

"Yup, having the same problem here. Tried uninstalling the updates in /settings/apps/google play store, also tried installing the .apk through chrome. Still getting the error message. Spoke with customer support and running the "repair" option from Sony Bridge was the only advice they offered. Creating a back-up now before I try running it..." said another.

Sony has acknowledged the problem and has only offered a factory reset.

While this resolves the issue for other Xperia Z5 users, some are still unable to access the Play Store despite performing the reset.

Some users suggest that using the Sony PC Companion is a better option. However, it is recommended that one does not uninstall the Play Store app as this may create further issues.

"The issue has been corrected after I re-installed Marshmallow from the Sony PC Companion and essentially factory wiping my phone. Do NOT update your phone via wifi or through the phones 'Software Update' panel. Only update through your PC using the Phone companion," advised a user.

A few users have also discovered that simply rebooting the handset resolves the issue.

Hopefully, Sony will roll out an update which will permanently fix the issue soon instead of only advising people to perform a factory reset.